Dogs banned at Wyoming Cemetery in Melrose

The Wyoming Cemetery Commission may have voted recently to ban dogs on the property, but an unearthed ordinance shows canines have not been allowed on the grounds for almost 20 years.

Jessica Sacco/ jsacco@wickedlocal.com

The Wyoming Cemetery Commission may have voted recently to ban dogs on the property, but an unearthed ordinance shows canines have not been allowed on the grounds for almost 20 years.

Michael Hughes, director of Wyoming Cemetery, said the Cemetery Commission met on March 22 to discuss the ongoing issue of dogs relieving themselves on the property.

At the meeting, the commissioners discussed a city ordinance, already in place, that bans dogs from the property — and agreed to move forward to make sure the policy is upheld.

“The board wants to do the right thing and follow the ordinance,” said Hughes, adding he would have enforced the rule starting in 2007, when he began as director, if he’d known of its existence.

For years, leashed dogs have been allowed to walk on the pathways of the cemetery. However, when a man saw a dog relieve itself on his son’s burial site in February, city officials began working to enforce the policy more strictly.

Since then, Mayor Rob Dolan said he’s received many emotional phone calls from residents on the issue of misbehaving dogs at the cemetery, prompting him to ask City Solicitor Rob Van Campen to research Melrose ordinances pertaining to the cemetery

“The cemetery is a solemn, sacred ground,” said Dolan. “It is simply unacceptable for that type of behavior.”

During his investigation, Van Campen discovered that the Board of Aldermen passed a law in 1994 that bans dogs at the cemetery.

It states, “No person shall permit a dog to be in or within any property under the control of the Cemetery Committee. This section shall not apply to any person lawfully upon the cemetery with a sight or hearing dog under his or her custody or control.”

Van Campen believes that for one reason or another, the ordinance was never enforced at the cemetery.

“Signage and all that stuff never gets installed at the cemetery,” he said. “So, dogs are allowed in the cemetery. Fast forward to 2013. Somebody asks the question of me and I discover the ordinance is still in effect.”

Hughes admitted he was always under the assumption that an amendment had been approved to allow dogs at the cemetery. Upon further research, he found no such change occurred.

“I made the mistake of assuming that [the ordinance] had been amended and it hadn’t,” he said. “No one ever enforced that ordinance prior to this. Everyone assumed…that dogs had been allowed and they shouldn’t have been.”

Van Campen said if the city ever wanted to allow leashed dogs at Wyoming Cemetery, the commission would have no authority to make such a ruling. Only an official ordinance change — which would need to be approved by the Board of Aldermen — would permit such a policy shift.

“The ordinance supersedes any regulation that the Cemetery Commission would enact,” he said. “Especially if the regulation was in conflict with the city ordinance.”

Enforcing the law

New signs have been ordered to make visitors aware of the dog ban. Dolan said city officials are in the process of developing cards to hand people, notifying them of the change.

Hughes said he expects the signs, which will alert residents of the ordinance, to be up by the end of next week.

“They’re going to be placed strategically throughout the cemetery,” he explained.

Dog walkers will be granted a one-month transition period before strict enforcement begins, but residents will then “have to find a new place to walk their dogs and that is the position of the Cemetery Commission and I agree with it,” said Dolan.

After the grace period, Hughes will impose fines for violations. First-time offenders will be ticketed $50. The second and any subsequent offenses will be $150.

Dolan said if it becomes necessary, the police department will be called for those who refuse to abide by the rules.

“I think most people know the cemetery is not Mount Hood, it’s not the dog park,” he said. “The cemetery is a sacred ground where people’s family are buried. It’s never acceptable that a dog goes to the bathroom on someone’s grave. I say that because that’s exactly what is happening and it should make people cringe.”